Times were tough when I was a little boy, but I never had a single clue to trouble my naive little noggin. Our humble circumstances were all I had ever known, and our family was full of adventure and love. If someone had told me we were poor and destitute, I would have told them they must be crazy. My life was just fine, and we were a happy little family.
I never was aware of any hint about how much stress my father endured to carry the load of providing for our little tribe. Dad never showed any signs of worry or wear. To me he was just a fairly sober-minded dad who usually faced life’s challenges with a subtle hint of mischief. He was not the type to laugh out loud and make outrageous jokes, but he enjoyed a little humor whenever he could. I’ll give you a few examples that will illustrate what I mean.
Whenever one of us children broke the rules and was worthy of some form of punishment, dad always said, “OK, Knucklehead. Grab your ankles!” The idea was that the offender would prepare to receive a swift kick to the posterior by bending over and taking hold of their ankles while still standing up. The kick from my dad was more of a gentle tap or a shove that sent the guilty party to the ground in a heap of giggles and laughter. The message was clear that dad never intended to enforce the rules with pain or anger. We felt duly punished for our miss-deeds, but always knew dad loved us.
Dad usually had goofy nicknames for each of the children and they seemed to change occasionally. Carol was “Kedzle” and Leslie was “Saskie”. Tom and I must have had a few nicknames too, but they escape me at the moment. I’ll have to ask Tom if he remembers them.
Another one of dad’s subtle quirks involved his love for “road kill humor.” He had a drawer full of oddities such as “The Original Road Kill Cookbook” and Boxes of Betty Trucker Roadkill Helper. Fortunately, this odd little twinkle in his eye developed after I was gone from the nest. See the pictures below.
The message is that dad always took life’s little bumps and bruises with a little bit of a chuckle. Even when things looked a little bit dreary, he was willing to look at the eternal picture and count his blessings.